Tempe Center for the arts

Location: Tempe Arizona

Completion: 09/07

Size: 90,000 sf

The design is based on the Anasazis’ Chaco Canyon Pueblo Bonita Great House plan. An outer protective wall holds the rooms within. The spaces between the kivas (rooms) become the streets and plazas (corridors and lobbies) for the village. Vertically the design is based on the dramatic earth forms of Monument Valley nearby the Chaco Canyon villages. The fly tower thrusts through the earth and the tectonic plates pushed out of the way lean against the monolith, sheltering it thermally and acoustically. The performing and visual arts center’s 88,000 sf program includes a 600-seat main theatre, 200-seat flexible theatre, gallery, multipurpose room, cafe, and arts park. In collaboration with Barton Myers Associates.

Project Facts

Client | City of Tempe

Cost | $49M

Contractor | Okland Construction

Type | Design Bid Build

Awards

2008 | National Council of Structural Engineers Association Excellence in Structural Engineering Award – New Building $30-$100 Million